During the week of Easter, the city overflows with pilgrims from all over the world who reenacts Christian history along Via Dolorosa. Groups of hundreds and even thousands of people march and sing, carrying banners and crosses, filling the alleyways of the Old City.

It is one of the oldest monasteries in the world, drawing tens of thousands of visitors from all corners of the globe, every year, who come to see its narrow rooms, steep alleyways and multitude of artistic treasures hidden inside. So, Dir Hag’ala, who are you, really?

In 1946, near a desolate spot in the Judean desert known as Khirbet Qumran, a Bedouin teenager crawled into a cave and discovered multiple clay jars that he hoped were filled with treasure. He was disappointed when what he found inside was just some old scrolls

On August 15, Catholics around the world celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, commemorating the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven at the end of her earthly life. The feast is known by the Orthodox Churches as the Dormition of the Theotokos